Physiotherapy Townsville & Mackay
What is Physiotherapy?
Physiotherapists assess and treat conditions in human movement. At Alliance Rehabilitation, we aim to improve quality of life through different programs by helping participants recover from injury, reduce pain and stiffness, increase mobility, and provide the tools to help prevent re-injury.
Our team delivers an intensive and individualised treatment for participants with a variety of conditions. Your physiotherapist will work with you to identify strengths and limitations surrounding your daily life, including work and within the community, and devise practical solutions based on your specific goals. Our objective is to help make the transition back to home and community smooth. We offer both individual and group sessions.
Our physiotherapists at Alliance Rehabilitation are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), the national accreditation body. AHPRA members are regulated to ensure clinicians maintain current practice supported by the latest evidence-based practice.
Benefits of Seeing a Physiotherapist
Physiotherapists are experts in delivering individualised treatment for all neurological and musculoskeletal conditions. A physiotherapist can help you set realistic and measurable goals customised to a plan specific to your recovery, with modifications as you improve. They can also help you recover safely from an injury through an adapted exercise program designed to meet every stage of your recovery to get you back to peak condition. Physiotherapists can also give guidance and education to improve your mobility and strength which will increase your independence and quality of life.
Alliance Rehabilitation mostly work within the scope of neurological rehabilitation. This helps people with injuries or disorders of the nervous and neuromuscular system. These conditions often present with muscle weakness, muscles spasms/tremors, coordination issues, balance problems, and a loss of overall function. Movement based therapy assists with neurological disorders and is beneficial for your overall health. We focus on wellness over illness, supporting you as a person rather than focusing just on your condition. Our rehabilitation helps you to reduce symptoms, improve function, increase independence, and improve your overall quality of life.
Physiotherapy Services provided at Alliance Rehabilitation
Alliance rehabilitation provides a wide range of physiotherapy services. This includes:
- Assessment and treatment of disorders affecting functional movement as a result of neurological (e.g. stroke, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s Disease) or orthopaedic (e.g. total hip replacements, fractures, osteoarthritis) conditions. Including muscle weakness and atrophy, impaired mobility, balance and coordination, falls risk, poor endurance, poor cardiovascular fitness, and pain.
- Gait training and standing programs in order to prepare for walking, specifically working on balance, lower extremity orthotics, artificial limb fitting and training, muscle re-education and motor control.
- Assessment and provision of mobility and functional equipment such as walkers, walking sticks, tilt tables, and standing frames and wheelchairs for participants who require assistance to safely move around in their home and/or the community.
- Services to optimise a participant’s capacity for safe and functional movement within the home and community.
- Education and training of family and carers to support good habits and rehabilitation strategies at home, especially with home programs, which is a large key to recovery. This can include bed mobility and transfer training, and wheelchair mobility.
- Contribution to admission and discharge planning as part of the Alliance Rehabilitation team to ensure a holistic approach during intensive treatment, and ongoing support and continuity when services cease.
- Goal specific exercise prescription and gym-based programs task oriented towards rehabilitation.
- Group exercise classes designed to target mobility, walking, and balance.
- Hydrotherapy, a rehabilitation service providing targeted water-based activities to help ease physical stress on the body and can help participants feel more relaxed than they would with land-based exercise.
- Workplace health and safety assessments and advocation, including, manual handling, ergonomics training, and education.
- Lymphoedema management (Level 1 Lymphoedema) and oncology physiotherapy.
- Hypertonicity clinic to support those with high levels of tone or tightness following a neurological event.
- Geriatric rehabilitation.
- Vestibular rehabilitation.
Types of Physiotherapy
You should wear comfortable clothes and sneakers (or closed in shoes) to your physiotherapy sessions. The initial session will involve a detailed interview where your therapist targets the main problem areas and helps you set realistic and measurable goals to work towards. They will ask about your past medical history, medications, previous level of function, history of falls, and what you would like to get out of physiotherapy at Alliance Rehabilitation.
They will then conduct outcome measures which will give a base line idea of function. This includes timed walking tests (10 meter gait speed, times up and go), a comprehensive balance assessment (BERG balance assessment, Fullerton Advanced Balance Measure), high level tests such as running (HiMAT assessment) if this is a goal, and endurance tests such as a 6 or 12 minute walk test.
Following the above assessments, your physiotherapist will work with you to create a suitable treatment plan. The intensity may vary depending on your needs and referral stream.
At Alliance Rehabilitation, our treatment is client-focused and goal-oriented. We want to focus on what is important to you and establish meaningful long-term goals. We will break these down to more achievable short-term goals, while keeping the long-term in mind.
Long-term goals may include return to sport, return to work, being able to walk along the strand with your grandchildren, or returning to live at home independently. Some goals have included returning to cooking, shopping, fishing, and camping.
Participants are encouraged to join in with group sessions. Everyone is assessed by a physiotherapist and provided with an individualised program to works towards your specific goals, which is progressed regularly. We encourage you to take ownership of your activity sheets and to record your repetitions of exercises to show change and improvement over time.
Once you are familiar with the exercises, you are encouraged to participate in the small groups which are run by an Allied Health Assistant (AHA). This encourages independent practice and allows for increased intensity of practice. We encourage family members and support workers to assist in these small groups too, if required. This allows for carryover of exercises into the home environment.
To take part in a group you must be able to perform some exercises independently. The AHA can provide some supervision, or family and support workers can also supervise more challenging exercises.
Conditions we Treat include:
- Stroke
- Spinal Cord Injuries
- Brain/Head Injuries
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Neuromuscular Degenerative Disorders
- Functional Neurological Disorders
- Orthogeriatric Rehabilitation
- Falls Prevention
- Limb Amputation
- Spina bifida
- Cerebral Palsy
- Multiple sclerosis
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Balance disorders
- Orthopaedic injuries
- Muscular dystrophy
- Vertigo
- Nerve Pain
- Musculoskeletal Injuries
- Persistent Pain Management
- Fitness and wellness education
- Arthritis
- Sprains and strains
- Back and neck pain
- Long term breathing problems
Referral Options for Physiotherapy
If you are completing services with us and are not able to continue on a different referral stream, our physiotherapists are able to discuss next steps and transition options.
How is Alliance Rehabilitation different?
We are a community rehabilitation facility designed to help you reach your goals through a collaborative approach. Our multidisciplinary team provides a comprehensive service tailored to your individual needs. Our clinicians provide comprehensive assessments, therapy planning, and monitoring to ensure you are experiencing the best quality of life. Physiotherapy is designed to relieve pain and encourage independence in your daily life. No matter the condition, you will see an improvement with regular physiotherapy and reduce your risk of injury through prevention and education. Alliance Rehabilitation are here to help you live a healthier and happier life.
